Gleeson The Defender Part 8

Gleeson snaps awake from his slumber. He sees Erik stirring the fire with a stick. “How long have I been out for?”

“Not long.”

“I don’t think I can sleep any longer in this place. Why don’t you get some sleep, I’ll stand guard.”

“Suit yourself. Don’t know if I can either, too many bad vibes here.” They both look over at Jake, who’s sleeping like a baby.

“We have a fight ahead of us. You should get some sleep.”

“I’d rather leave this place.”

“I would too, but the trolls.”

“You think we could use them to our advantage?”

“Depends, can you speak troll?”

Erik looks at Gleeson. His eyes are taking on a serious tone in the light of the fire. He grunts several times slamming his fists to his chest.

“What’s that mean?”

“I don’t fucking know. I was making shit up.” Erik laughs. Gleeson joins in. Jake stirs a little stretching out. They laugh even harder waking him up.

“What’s going on?” His groggy voice is barely audible above their laughter.

“Nothing.” Gleeson’s laughter fades. “Are you ready to get outta here?”

“Yeah.” Jake stands up stretching out his arms.

“I’ll go take a look around.” Erik walks off grabbing his bow. Gleeson kicks dirt on their little fire after they get their gear together. Jake and Gleeson each grab a shaft on the cart and lift.

It only takes a brief moment but they’re able to get it moving with its heavy load. They pull it through the abandoned battlefield at a steady pace.  Erik picks a way through the dense forest that’s easy for the cart.

The trees grow lighter as they move through them. It’s hard to tell what time of day it is because of the thick foliage above them. The sun only peeks through small gaps between the leaves.

They come upon the rock formation they hid behind when they saw the orcs and trolls. They take a short break here as Erik looks around the rocks. He cautiously makes his way to the road ahead, scouting their way.

Erik pauses behind a large tree and waves them forward. Gleeson and Jake pull on the cart moving it forward to their destination. Walking on the road makes pulling the cart easier. They’re no longer getting tangled on underbrush or having to go out of their way just to make it around a fallen tree.

They make good time heading down hill once they reach the switch back. They keep a quick pace even when they hit flat ground. The sooner they’re back to town the better.

“We should almost be back to town.” Jake huffs as he pulls the cart.

“Getting close, I can smell the stoves.” Erik walks backwards so he can talk to them.

“How much longer do you think we have?” Gleeson doesn’t take his eyes off the road.

“I don’t know, maybe-”

“It’s not the stoves.” Gleeson cuts Erik off. He stops pulling the cart and points down the road. The inferno rages in the town and can be seen flickering through the trees.

“Adeline.” Jake drops the shaft and runs down the road.

“Mary.” Gleeson follows pulling out his claymore from the cart. He chases after Jake, passing Erik. Erik readies an arrow and follows. Jake is halfway to town when Gleeson emerges from the trees. “Son of a bitch.”

Half the town is on fire. The orcs are murdering everyone they see. The carnage unfolding in front of them gives him flash backs. He stops shaking his head, clearing his mind. He runs down the road, he slows briefly as he comes upon his spear that he used as a cane so many moons ago. He carries his claymore in his left hand by the secondary hilt, the spear in his right hand. Both tips are pointing behind him. Jake is already fighting an orc when he gets close enough to launch the spear.

Without breaking stride, Gleeson unleashes the spear with all his might. It finds the orc Jake is fighting, releasing Jake to find his family. “Kill everyone and take the children.” A large orc calls to his soldiers.

            “Adeline!” Jake calls over the chaos. Dead men and women lay in the bloody streets. Jake keeps running to his house. Gleeson is close behind him slashing at orcs as they get close enough to his claymore.

Jake continues to run through the street, not caring what’s around him. Erik sends arrows racing past him, most of them finding their mark in the orcs. Gleeson is happy to see that his training hasn’t gone to waste. Many orcs have fallen to the town’s people.

Gleeson hesitates when he sees an orc comes busting out of Mary’s house. Under his arm, the orc carries a crying and screaming Adeline. “No!” Jake’s pace hastens. Mary comes limping out of the house, flames licking at her dress from the door.

She has a knife in her hand and is heading toward the orc. “Mary, no!” Gleeson tries stopping her from attacking the orc. He doesn’t know if she doesn’t hear him or is ignoring her. She jumps on the back of the orc stabbing him in the neck over and over. The blade is barely big enough to puncture the thick skin of the orc.

Blood flows freely from its neck as multiple wounds cover its side. He drops Adeline and flips Mary over his shoulders. She lands on her back, the wind being knocked out of her. 

Jake picks up Adeline from the dirt and darts behind his burning house. The orc’s attention is still on Mary. He stabs down, penetrating her lower abdomen. When he pulls the sword out, Gleeson can see the blood on her dress.

The orc turns back to where Adeline was lying. His anger ensues when he sees she’s no longer there. Gleeson slashes down on the orc, taking its head and shoulder off. An arrow races by Gleeson, taking out another orc.

Gleeson drops to his knees in front of Mary. She’s holding her belly, trying to stop the bleeding. Her face is turning pale as she meets Gleeson’s eyes. “Hey.” Gleeson puts some more pressure on her wound. “Erik, get a doctor.”

“It’s too late.” Mary coughs up some blood. “Is Adeline safe?” Tears run down her face.

“Jake got her.”

“You keep them alive. Promise me you’ll do this.”

“I promise.”

“One more thing.” She closes her eyes taking a long breath of air.

“What is it?”

“Don’t leave any survivors.” She reaches her hand past Gleeson. “Jake, my love.” Jake comes from behind the house. “Where’s Adeline?”

“She’s safe.” Jake kneels on the other side of her. He wipes the blood from her lips and gives her a kiss.

“Gleeson, you keep your promise.” Gleeson nods at her, fighting back tears. He stands up, leaving Mary to die in Jake’s arms. Orcs are killing everyone they come across. His men are defending the buildings they have left. The fire from Jake and Mary’s house burns behind him.

“What now?”

“No survivors!” Gleeson charges at a group of orcs. Erik follows him, sending arrows at them, dropping as many as he can before Gleeson reaches the group. Gleeson whips his claymore around his head, extending his arms out on the forward swing. He connects with three orcs.

 Two of their heads roll off with ease. The third one tries to dodge but the reach of the claymore is too great. The tip of the sword catches the orc in the throat splattering blood all over his comrades.

The group of orcs turns their attention to Gleeson standing there, covered once again in orc blood. They see the malicious smile spread across Gleeson’s face. The fear in the orcs eyes triggers the blood lust in Gleeson.

He strikes with a blinding speed. His claymore whips around as he spins and twists. He blocks the incoming attacks from the orcs without hindering his own assault. He twists around an attack and switches his grip to the secondary hilt.

He stabs an orc with a spear like thrust. The orc grabs his hands holding Gleeson captive. Gleeson doesn’t panic when he can’t move. He drives his head forward, smashing his forehead into the orc’s flat nose splashing blood all over.

The orc releases his grip on Gleeson. He grabs his custom knives slicing the orc in multiple places. The orc drops dead and Gleeson moves on to the next victim. He keeps his blades protecting his forearms while slicing throats as he makes his way through the group.

Erik’s arrows flash by him as he carves his way through the orcs. Slashing and slicing, the orcs fall around him. The orcs start to flee as the town regroups behind Gleeson and Erik.

The cart of children is left behind by the fleeing orcs. Erik’s arrows race to their targets, taking them from their horses. Erik reaches for another arrow as an orc jumps on a horse. He finds there are none left in his quiver.

Gleeson sees the orc trying to escape. He walks over to his claymore stuck in the orc. He plants his foot on the orc and pulls out the claymore. He turns his attention back to the rider.

He holds the claymore with both hands. “No survivors.” He puts it behind his back, the tip pointing to the ground. He takes a few steps and heaves it over his head. It flips end over end, arching through the air.

The claymore finds its mark in the middle of the orc’s back. The orc flies forward from the weight of the claymore. It flies over the head of the horse, taking the horse with it. The horse falls to the ground but gets up just as fast, trampling the orc.

Gleeson turns around seeing the town behind him. Everyone is covered in orc blood and ash. “We leave in the morning to find the orcs.” Tears of anger roll down his face, leaving clean tracks through the blackness of his face.